NCAA Basketball: Top college basketball players at each height for 2018-19
By Brian Foley
5-foot-7
SO Chris Lykes, Miami
2017-18: 9.6 ppg, 2.3 apg, 0.8 spg
As the shortest man in college basketball, Lykes gets the nod here by default. Still, the D.C. product is more than just a number. Miami will need Lykes to assume a larger role following the departures of Lonnie Walker IV and Bruce Brown Jr. Last season, Lykes averaged 12.8 points in the 12 contests Brown missed with injury.
HM: none
5-foot-8
SO Terrell Gomez, Cal State Northridge
2017-18: 11.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.4 rpg
Cal State Northridge won just six games in 2017-18, but Gomez – one of three 5-foot-8 players in the sport – pieced together an effective offensive season. Gomez’ 46.1 percent mark from beyond the arc ranked second amongst all freshmen (min. 100 attempts). New head coach Mark Gottfried developed several talented guards across his three previous stops, so we’ll see what he can do with Gomez now leading the charge.
HM: JR Xavier Bishop, UM-Kansas City
5-foot-9
SR Chris Clemons, Campbell
2017-18: 24.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.1 apg
Few players get buckets quite like Clemons. In fact, in the past three seasons, Clemons and South Dakota State’s Mike Daum – spoiler alert: he’s on this list too – are tied atop the scoring leaderboard with 2,232 points. Clemons matched Daum despite playing in seven fewer games (though he did play nearly 300 more minutes). The senior guard finished third and fourth in scoring average in each of the last two seasons and is a strong candidate to finally grab the individual title in 2018-19.
HM: SR TJ Shorts II, UC Davis
5-foot-10
JR Jared Harper, Auburn
2017-18: 13.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.2 spg
Harper’s reliable playmaking and distribution skills helped guide the Tigers to their first tournament appearance in 15 seasons. Despite several key losses, Auburn figures to field an SEC contender once again, but Bruce Pearl will need Harper to clean up his shooting efficiency for the Tigers to reach their true ceiling. Harper shot just 36 percent for the season, including 5-30 during Auburn’s final three games of the year.
HM: SR Justin Coleman, Arizona
5-foot-11
JR Markus Howard, Marquette
2017-18: 20.4 ppg, 2.8 apg, 1.0 spg
Howard is known for his shooting – he led the country in three-point percentage as a freshman at 54 percent, before “slipping” to 40 percent as a sophomore – but he is as complete a scorer as there is in the Big East. Howard turned in six 30-plus point performances last season, including 52 points in a comeback win at Providence in January.